All for Revenge
by DAve and Bob
Summary: Thomas was an average person living an ordinary life. At least those are the words he would use to describes himself and the people around him. That was until for seemingly no reason. His friends shoot him in the back of his head. Now he awakens in the world of Fairy Tail, being taken in by the Avatar cult of all things. Now he has to find his two friends while staying alive. (OC)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Do You Believe in Fate?**

I heard a click as something was placed in the back of my head. My heart skipped a beat as I stared across the table at my childhood friend, an unsettling smile appearing across her face.

"L-Lass, isn't this a bit much for a joke?" I started to sweat a bit. My eyes glanced behind me to see a woman with long blonde hair tied into a pony-tail. "This was your idea, right, Lenora?"

"Yep! We knew you wouldn't go along with it, so we decided to trick you into coming over," Lenora replied, tilting her head.

"Go along with what?" I swore it had to be some elaborate prank. That Lenora would pull the trigger, and bubbles would come out or something.

"Going to the next world!" Lass clasped her hands together. "Lenora said if we killed ourselves another world awaited us, but she felt that you'd refuse, so we just decided to plan this."

I bit my lip not saying a word. Sure Lass could be a bit violent, and Lenora a bit weird. But they'd never plan a murder-suicide right?

"We'd figure you wouldn't mind since we're the only ones that you care about." Lenora ran her fingers through her hair with her free hand. "You'd probably kill yourself once you found out the news."

It was at that moment I realized they weren't joking. I didn't know what Lenora told Lass to convince her this was a good idea, but a strange knot started to form in my stomach.

I wanted to say something, anything to convince them not to go through with it. That was until I heard the chamber clicking into place.

"See you on the other side, Thomas!" The cheerfulness of Lenora contrasted with the sound of a gunshot.

* * *

Rushing water filled my ears. I felt strange like someone was dragging me out of a pool of water.

"To think, someone from a cult saving someone else..." A grumbling voice entered my ears. "It doesn't help that he looks like a dog..."

"Come now, Scruffy. We couldn't let a body float down the river without at least investigating it a little.

My body hit the ground, at least that is what I assumed I hit. I then felt someone place their fingers to my neck, checking my pulse.

"He's still alive," the male voice stated. I slowly started to open my eyes to see a set of orange eyes, staring back at me. I attempted to sit up before a strange nauseous feeling overtook me.

"I guess asking if you are okay would be pointless," the dark-skinned woman standing over me said, her silver hair waving in the breeze.

"Ignoring that, what should we do with him now?" The blonde man asked. "If we took the time to fish him out, it'd be pointless just to leave him here."

"Let's take him back to the building. We are pretty low on members, and any additions can help."

I didn't respond, mostly because it felt like my head was going to leak out of the side of my brain. Just thinking was painful, so I decided not to do that as the blond man picked me up and placed me on his shoulders.

"To think, we sunk so low to have to pick up random strangers..." The blonde man sighed. "What if he doesn't want to join?"

"Then I will personally eliminate him," the silver-haired woman said. I felt I should have been fearful of her comment, but instead, I was put at ease. I didn't know why, and I didn't care.

I just wanted the pain coming from my head to stop. So I did what any rational human being would do and closed my eyes and attempted to drift to sleep.

I didn't know how much time passed between where we were or where we were going, but I could feel myself being placed on something soft. If that was the case, I didn't need to worry anymore, at least that is what I thought.

I allowed myself to fall asleep, not caring what happened next as long as my headache would be gone when I woke up.

There were no dreams or anything like the sort. The only thing that was able to jog me awake was the sound of people talking around me, like some lab experiment.

"H-he does have wolf-ears and a tail..." I heard one voice state.

"I also heard from Jerome that he has red eyes, is this guy even human?" Another voice rang out, causing me to snap my eyes open.

I instantly sat up, causing the few people that were crowded around me to quickly back away. My gaze promptly made its way to the four corners of the room. It was dark and dirty. The only thing lighting the area was a few torches that had been placed around.

Strangely enough, my first thoughts weren't to where I was, but rather something else. "Where are they?" I asked blankly hanging my feet over the side of the bed.

"W-what are you talking about?" One of the oddly cloaked men asked, causing my eyes to narrow. "D-do you want to see Jerome and Briar?"

Those names were familiar, but they weren't what I was interested in. Instead, it was the names of two people that were the most important to me.

"Lenora and Lass, where are they!" I snapped, I could feel my hand twitching. I felt a well of anger crawl through my body, even if I had no idea why. Wind started to flow through the room, blowing the flames from the torches in every direction.

"D-damn it. He's an actual mage, get the staves!" One of the men yelled, the instantly he did everyone in the room ran towards one of the corners of the room. Just as expected there were large wooden rods with orbs attached to them.

I didn't know what they were used for, but I wasn't going to find out. I lifted my hand, swiping it through the air, in an instant, all the staves were broken and cut into pieces. Leaving the clocked figures frozen in place.

"Where are Lenora and Lass..." I repeated my question. I gritted my teeth as more and more wind picked up around. I didn't bother letting them answer the question, at that moment a small gust of wind blew open the wall flinging everyone out into the nearby hallway.

I walked through the newly created hole, taking a deep breath. I held my head, trying to recount bits and pieces of information. My name was Thomas. I was from Idaho. I recently graduated high-school with my two friends Lenora and Lass.

Despite that, I felt like there was something important I was missing. Whatever it was, I wouldn't find it here. I prepared to walk through the building, that was until I heard a voice.

"Hey, what happened here-" The voice cut itself off as I turned my head. At that moment I saw a pink-haired girl, around the age of fourteen just staring at me. She was wearing a black dress, with bright yellow eyes that had star like pupils.

She looked at the destroyed room and unconscious guards. "W-what? What are you doing?!" She yelled as I took a step towards her. I was fully prepared to attack her until she added something to her statement.

"W-we're the ones that saved you!" She cried out, shielding her face. When she did that simple action I stopped, my head was still throbbing.

"Oh, you're awake." A familiar voice called out to me. I turned my head once again to see a dark-skinned woman walking towards me. Stepping over the destruction that I must have caused. "I guess my hunch about you being able to use magic was right..."

My body relaxed somewhat as the woman continued talking. "Did you need to destroy the entire room, though? We are low on supplies as it is, we don't need any more problems cropping up."

"Ah, sorry..." I apologized without really thinking about it. My sense of reason seemed to have been returning to me, like an animal that was slowly waking up from anesthesia.

"Don't be, if I'm lucky you will more than makeup for it." The silver-haired woman brushed her hair to the side.

"Y-you need to be more careful who you bring into the building!" The pink-haired girl whined. "I could have lost my head or something!"

The dark-skinned woman sighed, looking over to the teenage girl. "Sorry about that Venom tongue, I'll be more careful considering how fragile you are!"

D-don't call me that in front of new people," the pink-haired girl quickly counted. "Plus can't you come up with something more cute for me? Like Kitty?"

The silver-haired woman sneered at the proportion. "You and I both know that's would be a lie to your true nature."

The pink-haired girl then grumbled crossing her arms. Her eyes locked with mine before she raised her hand, giving a salute. "The name's Mary, nice to meet you...I guess."

"My name is Thomas, sorry about trying to attack you earlier. I don't know what came over me..." I frowned. I never really considered myself a violent person, quite the opposite.

"That's fine..." Mary pouted, "Briar probably did some horrible things to you on the way here..."

The moment those words escaped Mary's lips, Briar's eyes twitched.

"We should probably be on our way..." Briar groaned, turning away from both me and Mary.

"Um, what about all of this?" I pointed to the destroyed room and unconscious guards.

"Don't worry. Mary will handle the cleanup!" Briar snickered.

"Wah!" Mary stamped her foot, but before she had a chance to say anything, Briar had already made her way halfway down the hall. A part of me wondered if I should stay and help the short girl, but ultimately, I decided to follower the silver-haired woman.

The whole situation was still somewhat confusing to me. Even more so given the location. It was like we were in a strange gothic manor, causing me to wonder if everyone around me were vampires.

"Our priest, Alok, is out right now, but I think considering how few of our members have actual magic he'll allow it," Briar said causing my mind to wander.

I should have been more shocked by the situation, yet I was going along with it. Like I had forgotten something, and I was experiencing deja-vu.

After a few minutes of walking through the dark, depressing building, we finally came to a large circular room. It was like a giant dinner table filled with seats. Sitting there was a tall person wearing heavy armor. The armor on his shoulder appeared to have demons on him, and his mask removed all identifiable facial features.

Sitting across from him was the blond man I had seen earlier.

"Where's Mary?" The blonde asked. "I feel all the members should be here if we are recruiting more mages."

"Don't worry, Venom Lips already met him, and she said it was okay..." Briar said, leaving quite a lot of the truth out of her statement. She then took a seat next to the other two before pointing to the chair across from hers. "Please take a seat."

I tilted my head, deciding not to go against it. I mean, I had no real reason to do so. I took my seat glancing at the three people as they stared back.

"Is he a mage?" The blonde ask.

"As far as I know, he is," Briar replied. "You need to be a bit more positive Scruffy."

The blonde grumbled, his gaze still fixated on me.

"If he is, then we should at least ask Jerome, he does not appear to be a part of the magic council." The tall armored figure spoke prompting Jerome to sigh.

"Perhaps it's better to be upfront about this..." The blond scratched his cheek. "Would you like to join our...group."

The way he phrased that made it sound far shader than I expected. I honestly had no idea what to make of the people around me, even more so since they all looked pretty strange and acted strange as well.

Still, they did save my life.

"Just to let you know, if you re-"

"Sure," I replied, cutting Briar off.

"W-wah?" Briar was taken aback by my blunt response, so much so that I had to repeat myself.

"I will join." Thinking about it, I didn't know why I was agreeing, but for some reason, it felt like this wasn't the first time I joined this sort of organization.

Briar frowned. "Are you sure? You don't even want to think about it?"

Jerome slumped his shoulders. "Weren't you the one that wanted him to join? Why the second thoughts?"

Briar shook her head. "No, I still want him to join, I just expected for it to take a bit more convincing that's all."

"With that, it has been decided..." The tall masked figure spoke.

Jerome crossed his arms, "I suppose we should try to get you a room, but before that..." The orange-eyed man scanned me. "Have you heard of a dark-guild know as Interminable Guerre?"

The moment that name was brought up, I felt something digging into my brain — a strangely nostalgic feeling, with a hint of unpleasantness to it. Despite those flood of emotions, however...

"I can't say that I have," I replied as blunt as possible.

"I guess you're lucky," Briar sighed, pressing her hand against her cheek. "Those guys have been giving the Balam alliance a ton of trouble. They even managed to kill one of Grimoire Hearts strongest members and cripple another one."

Those terms, I had heard them before. The more I hung around the area. The more things started to come back to me, like a computer slowly loading a webpage.

"Perhaps it's for the best," Jerome added. "The alliance never took us seriously, so if another dark-guild wants to put them in their place, it can only be advantages to us."

They seemed to have been talking about a ton stuff that was going over my head. Though a strange realization started to dawn on me, I was in the Fairy Tail world.

I didn't know why I had such a delayed reaction to that fact. I had just used magic, after all, but my mind finally seemed to be comprehending the situation I was in.

Which meant the people around me were apart of the cult known as Avatar. It was kind of weird, I should have been reacting to it more, but I couldn't muster up much shock or enthusiasm for what was in front of me.

"We can talk about that later since our next mission is about them," Briar said her eyes focusing on me once again. "D-6, show Wolfy here to his room."

"Wolfy?" I raised a brow. I then felt something shift on the top of my head. I flicked it, noticing that I had indeed grown another set of ears on the top of my head. "I guess it matches the tail..." I frowned, realizing no one was ever going to take me seriously again.

"Come on..." The dark, clad man lifted himself from his seat, exiting the room. I couldn't help but wonder if following him was the right thing to do.

I got up leaving Briar and Jerome to talk amongst themselves. I followed the dark clad man through the dark hallways, taking note of how few members there were in the building. Despite that fact, even I realized there probably wasn't enough space for everyone to live there.

"Um, does everyone have rooms?" I asked.

"No, only those with their magic are permitted to have rooms here."

"I guess that means a lot of members don't have magic then?" I recalled Briar saying that finding me was lucky when she found out that I could use magic.

"That is correct," D-6 replied. "Most followers here use magical items of some kind.

It made sense, from what the series told me only 10% of people in Earthland could use magic. Which never made sense to me, but I decided not to question the logic of the series. I probably wasn't going to question a lot of things I was going to see from here on out.

We finally got to the room at the end of the hall, causing the black-clad man to place his hand against the door. "You will be staying here."

I had a hard time telling if he was being rude or just being blunt. "Thanks, is there anything else that I need to know?"

"I do not think so..." The man replied it was nearly impossible to tell what was going on through his head. I blamed the mask, making it challenging to know what his expression or thoughts were.

After all, most people communicated with their face, so having that blocked off made someone naturally more inhuman.

"...Can I ask you something?" I looked at the masked man.

"..." He didn't say anything, allowing me to take his silence as a yes.

"Why are you letting me join Avatar? Are you that strapped for natural mages?" I could see it happening with the Balam Alliance around. Most of the talented mages that worshiped Zeref probably went to one of those three — leaving Avatar to eat up the scraps.

But even then...letting a random stranger join your cult seemed a bit much.

"...Do you believe in fate? That there is a reason why we met?" D-6 asked, causing my stomach to twist into a knot. "The members of Avatar do, it was no coincidence that Briar and Jerome happened upon you, perhaps it was Zeref that blessed us with another mage."

I didn't respond. I guess because I knew Zeref's story, it was impossible for me to see him as a god. Still, it wasn't my place to shit on someone's beliefs besides, the way D-6 phrased his statement reminded me of Lenora.

Just replace the words fate with gravity, and it would be one to one. Lenora always believed that people had a pre-destined place in the world, and trying to go against it would only cause pain.

"Thanks," that was the only thing I could say as D-6 started to walk away.

I sighed, preparing to open the door.

"You know not all of us believe in that stuff."

I froze, turning my head, leaning against the hallway wall was Mary.

"Huh?"

"Even if Zeref's a god, I think peoples actions are there own." The star-eyed girl tilted her head. "At least, I hope...even if I'm a dark-mage I don't want to live in a world where everything is pre-determined."

It was nice to hear, though that may have been my beliefs. "Then, why would you join a cult like this?" It was a stupid question to ask. No one knows why they join a cult after all.

It was like asking someone why they became a serial killer or something. If they had the answer to it, then they probably wouldn't be serial killers.

"No one else would take me, plus I'm looking for someone?" The pink-haired girl said. "What about you? The meeting didn't seem to take that much time, but it seems you are already member."

"I guess...I'm also looking for someone," I frowned recalling Lenora and Lass. The last thing I remembered was Lenora driving the three of us to her house to stay over after that everything was a blank.

"That's good enough I suppose," Mary smiled, placing her hands on her hips. She then walked up to me, placing her hand, on the top of my head, scratching behind my wolf-ears.

"H-hey don't do that..." I strange feeling overcame me as she motioned her fingertips.

"W-woah, they actually are real. I thought you were wearing a headband or something!" Mary's fingers started to furiously dance across my skull, like she was petting a dog.

I enjoyed the feeling, but I still had to maintain my pride as a person.

"Will you stop!" I grumbled removing Mary's hand from my hair. "I'm heading into my room now." My nostrils flared as I slipped into my new room, shutting the door behind me.

I could hear Mary giggling on the other side as her footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Still, I was alone now. I glanced around my room, noting how empty it was, which made sense. I didn't have anything with me, so of course, my room was empty.

Though a handy calendar and mirror were hanging on the wall, I walked up to it examing what year it was.

"X784..." I should have expected as much though this was more than eight years from their introduction proper in the canon, which might have explained why all the significant members weren't there yet.

I then walked over to the nearby mirror. My black-hair drew my attention to my eyes. "Were my eyes always red? And these clothes, these weren't what I was wearing when I, Lenora, and Lass all went to Lenora's house..."

The looked far too close to clothes from earthland to be anything from earth, which was impossible since I went straight from there to here.

A lot of things weren't adding up, and how well I was taking being sent to a new world didn't help. Most people would be freaking out, but for some reason, I was at ease. It made me feel weird. There was nothing worse than knowing you should be feeling one thing and feeling the complete opposite.

"Whatever, I just have to find Lenora and Lass, from there we can find our way home..." I let out a sigh. Wondering if joining an evil cult was the smartest choice.

Though, just like my feelings with earthland as a whole, I felt strangely at ease. Like joining an ordinary guild would have gone against my very nature.

Which was odd, since I wasn't a violent person, regardless Jerome and Briar found me first. So it was only natural that I would end up joining them first.

Thus my days as an Avatar Member began.

 **Author note**

 **I always wanted to rewrite this series as I said above. Make it a bit faster paced and get straight into it. Plot points introduced in the original will be kept if rearranged slightly. I felt it was pointless to start an entirely new fic with the same characters etc.**

 **Despite the paring list, I don't want this to become a Harem. It's more I'm going to let reviews tell me who Thomas should end up with.**

 **Don't know if I got it across in the chapter, but I wanted to make it obvious that Thomas actually forgot the part about being shot in the head by his friends.**

 **I wanted to also present Avatar as pretty weak. Since their display in canon was...far from a strong showing, and that it felt like they just mocked up a ton of former dark-guild members for their cult since it only had around 2000 members.**

 **Next chapter.**

 **Will three dark mages be able to defeat one ghosty girl?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Lady in the Water.**

"This is the place, right?" I asked, looking around the desolate town. Buildings were torn inside out, and the only signs of life that remained were the scraps of toys and clothing littering the area.

What made the whole thing more unsettling was the lack of bodies. It seemed that whoever had been through erased all evidence that they had been there.

"Yeah, this is the town...or what's left of it," Briar explained. "Apparently there were whispers of a book that contains information about Zeref around here, but Interminable Guerre blew through it."

"I guess that explains why there is barely anything left," I said, placing my hand on the ground. I looked around, noticing, a strange abundance of puddles. "Did it rain on the way here?"

"Huh?" Briar looked around. "Now that you mention it, there are a few puddles. Maybe it rained a few days ago."

"Enough about that," Jerome stopped the conversation about weather and puddles. "The reason we decided to let you on this mission is because it's a simple one. We are to look around this town for the book in question while digging up any information about Interminable Guerre."

I frowned, it seemed simple enough. Though I didn't know why Jerome waited until we were in the town to tell me, I also didn't understand why they sent three mages to handle something so simple.

It seemed like work one would give to foot soldiers. Of course, I wasn't complaining. It wasn't like I wanted to jump into danger as soon as possible.

Though searching the ruins of a town for a single book seemed rather daunting. "Do you know what the book looks like?" I had to ask.

"You'll know once we find it," the blond man close his eyes walking forward.

I raised my brow slightly. It seemed the blond wasn't very talkative.

"Don't mind Scruffy," Briar whispered into my ear. "He's probably in a bad mood since he feels like he has to babysit you instead of getting more work done at the base."

"I guess I can't blame him for that." If I had to look after a new co-worker for an entire day, I'd probably be less than thrilled.

The three of us started to look through each building, leaving no stone unturned. While there were plenty of books about Zeref, none of them seemed to have been written by the man himself. Which to be fair, made sense, if he had written something one of the more powerful dark guilds would have had their hands on it by now.

"This is going to take a while..." I closed another drawer before examining a nearby bed. "Still, it's kind of freaky that there is nothing left behind, no blood, no bodies...nothing."

"That's been Interminable Guerre MO since we heard of them," Briar replied as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Unlike other dark guilds who want to be feared for the destruction, it's almost like they want people to question if they are even real. Like some ghosts or phantoms."

Jerome scoffed shutting a nearby book. "From what I heard, not even the magic council have solid proof of their existence. Probably due to them leaving no survivors."

"Geez..." I frowned causing my wolf-like ears to twitch. The more I heard about them, the less they sounded like a dark-guild and more like some government strike squad that got rid of anyone that got too close to the truth.

The three of us walked out of the building, making our way down the street. That was until Jerome randomly drew his blade examining the steel.

"Don't turn around, but a woman has been following us since we started searching for the book." The blond swordsmen said, examining the reflection of his blade.

Briar's eyes narrowed, "are you sure?" the dark-skinned woman asked prompting Jerome to nod.

"Yeah, but she's covered in this sort of mist, I can't make out any details," Jerome added promoting me to stick my nose into the air.

"Are...you sure we're being followed?" I asked, not daring to turn around myself.

Jerome groaned. "Don't be cute, why would I lie about something like this?"

Great now I probably pissed him off. "It's not that I think you're lying, it's more that I'm not picking up any scents besides the three of us.

"Oh? You can do that?" Briar asked.

"Yeah, I noticed it when I first woke up, my sense of smell got a lot better to the point where I can identify people through it." Thinking about it, it was a weird feature to have, but it made sense considering the wolf ears and tail.

Jerome sighed, "Even still I-" Jerome stopped examining the reflection in his blade. "Shit, she's right behind us."

Against our better judgment, Briar and I turned around to see the mysterious mist woman, only to be greeted with nothing. After a few seconds of waiting for something to happen both me and Briar glanced at one another before looking over to Jerome.

"Scruffy, are you trying to play a trick on us?" Briar raised her brow, causing Jerome to point to space behind us.

"Damn it. I swore I saw her!" Jerome insisted, which caused me to wonder if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"It is noon, maybe the sunlight reflecting off your blade is causing a weird image." It was possible after all the human mind liked filling in shapes.

"Like hell!" Jerome snapped, looking at his blade again. "S-she's right on top of us! Can't the two of you see her?"

Once again, me and Briar turned around, but this time when we did, we heard a rather loud splash. We quickly turned our heads back to Jerome only to notice that Jerome was missing.

"Huh, what the..." My eyes quickly darted around, trying to find any hint of the blond swordsmen. The only thing seemingly left of him was a random puddle on the ground.

"Are...we being attacked?" Briar's voice shook for a moment. "Damn, I guess our assumptions were right!"

"Your assumptions?" I tilted my head, allowing my tail to wag ever so slightly.

Briar's red eyes narrowed. "The reason we didn't send non-mages to complete this mission was that there was a chance of enemy may still be around the area. It seems that we were right..."

"So the enemy might have captured Jerome?" I asked, "but, that's impossible. He was right in front of us..."

Could it have been illusion magic? I knew it was a possibility from the series, but I couldn't imagine falling under the effects so quickly.

"Regardless of what happened, we need to find Scruffy immediately," Briar stated the undeniable fact. "Tell me, Wolfy, are you okay to be left alone?"

My eyes widened for a moment. I looked down at my hand. Despite having just gotten to this world and being thrown into a life or death situation, I was strangely calm. "Yeah, I think I can function by myself, but do you think just the two of us will be able to find Jerome? The town is pretty big..."

While finding a person is probably easier than a book if Jerome was in danger, we didn't have a lot of time to waste.

"Who said anything about it being the two of us?" Briar replied, causing my thoughts to wander for a minute.

That's right, Briar's magic was perfect for this situation.

"I suppose it's time to finally show you my black-magic," Briar smiled.

* * *

Jerome winced as he tumbled through the ground, his body skidding across the dirt and into a nearby wall. The moment his body stopped moving the swordsmen shot to his feet, instantly checking his surroundings.

"W-what?" The blond eyes widened. He was in the same town, no doubt about it. There was something wrong like everything was a transparent version of the area he had just been in.

Trees, buildings, rocks. Everything was like a blurry cloud. Even the light-blue sky was a deep dark navy like he was trapped in an underwater version of the town.

"Wow, you Zeref worshipers are pretty stupid. Send a message about some ancient artifact, and you all come running like rats to a corpse."

Jerome's eyes twitched as he turned his attention to a nearby corner. Slowly walking out was a dainty looking woman with long green hair; her red eyes contrasted her bright white dress. If someone were to see her from a distance, they would no doubt mistake her for a ghost.

"Who are you!" Jerome snapped, lifting his blade.

The woman, on the other hand, just reached down her shirt and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She then unraveled it, reading the contents of the note.

"Jerome, age nineteen. Born in a village that was destroyed by a freak earthquake you decided to become a rune knight, only for your entire squad to be killed in front of you..." The green-haired woman then shut the sheet of paper, placing it back into her dress. "Ah, I suppose tragedies do point people towards religion, though unlike your god my god actually grants people's wishes."

Jerome gritted his teeth. He opted to ignore the information that was being spouted about himself. "Is this your doing? Where am I?"

"You're in my world...in a sense," the ghostly woman took a few steps towards Jerome. "I'll let you out if tell me the location of your base."

"Like hell, I'd do that!" Jerome snapped, causing the woman to cackle.

"Then die, Jerome!" Without hesitating the woman rushed her enemy. Despite her frail frame Jerome wasn't going to take any chances. He lifted his sword, preparing to cut his foe in two.

The moment he swung it; however, the woman caught it between her fingertips. "Wow, impressive, this is rather heavy...even for a demon like me."

Was she a demon? That was the first thought that popped into Jerome's head before he refocused. "You really shouldn't have caught that?"

"Oh?" The ghost-like woman tilted her head. "And why's that?"

"Because my black-magic corrodes and eats away at anything, even metal. Soon the flesh on your hands will melt away..."

"Is that so?" Despite the threat, the woman didn't even attempt to remove her hands from Jerome's blade. Quite the opposite, it seemed she was keeping her hands on the edge to make a point.

"W-why isn't my magic working?!" Jerome's hands froze as a fist made of mist appeared around the woman striking the swordsman in the stomach, sending him flying back.

"Simple, magic does not work here. Only curse power is allowed to exist in this world, and you, my friend are no curse user!" The woman snickered before pointing to Jerome. "Now, this is your final warning. Tell me where the head of Avatar operation is, or die!"

Jerome bit the inside of his cheek forcing himself to stand. "It doesn't matter how many times you ask. The answer will be the same."

"Then prepare to die at the hands of Buée!" The woman grinned send a wave of mist towards Jerome. The moment it reached him, it turned solid, sending a pillar of clouds into his stomach.

The only thing Jerome could do was cough as he was sent flying through the air landing on his back. Despite that, he continued to grip his blade.

"Eh? It's pointless; a human without magic is like a dog without its legs. This battle is impossible for you to win!" Buée snickered once again as she dug her feet into the ground, preparing for another attack.

Jerome braced for another attack, but before either of the two could do anything a transparent figure passed in between them. Jerome twitched, his eyes trying to understand what was going on.

"Is that...Thomas?" Jerome said.

"That's right you brought some friends along right? One of which is a newbie." Buée twirled her hair as a sickening smile appeared across her face. "Maybe he'll be more willing to talk!" Without saying another word, Buée dashed after the ghost-like image of Thomas.

"H-hey, wait!" Jerome lifted his body only to collapse. The lack of magic wasn't just affecting his offensive capabilities, but also was draining him of his stamina as well. "Damn it. I can't stay here for long. I need to find a way to communicate with the others..."

* * *

"He's not here either..." I sighed while I looked through the ruins. Despite Briar and me deciding to split up, I didn't know what I was doing.

I could find Jerome's scent, almost like he was sent to a completely different world or something. On the plus side, it probably meant he was still alive. After all, if he were dead, finding his corpse through his scent would be a cinch.

"I wonder if Briar is having any luck?" She was covering four times the ground, thanks to her magic. Then again, she probably would have contacted me if she had found Jerome.

I continued to wander through the streets before coming across another puddle, but this time, there was something in the water.

"A...book?" I was taken aback by the scene. Sure there was a possibility that a book was left out in the open and a puddle formed around it, but it appeared to have been floating. Something that wouldn't be happening if the puddle was created around it.

Meaning someone placed the book in the puddle for whatever reason.

I stopped examining the scene. We were looking for a unique book, after all. At the same time, what were the chances of me just happening upon it randomly?

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to at least take a look..." I said, crouching down. I slowly reached my hand towards the soaked novel, right when I was about to grab it a hand came shooting out of the liquid, grabbing my arm.

"W-what?" I couldn't even finish my thought as I was dragged into the puddle.

I fell for what only seemed like a second as my back hit the ground. I winced quickly getting to my feet, my eyes darting around the area.

"A-am I dreaming?" I looked around. It was like I had entered a strange version of the town that was underwater. No, that was wrong; it was like a phantom version of the town. Like someone had scribbled an outline of a city using chalk or something.

"What is this place?" The moment I asked a strange scent filled my nose. I instinctively turned around to see a rather thin woman standing before me.

She had a long white dress with green hair. The colors of which gave her an almost transparent look. There was no doubt about it. She looked like a ghost.

"You must be the woman that Jerome was talking about," I said, standing up. Despite being face to face with an enemy, I was calm, almost like I was used to such situations.

"Yeah, sadly, you were too stupid to realize you were being followed," the green-haired woman's eyes narrowed. "Of course, I'm not entirely heartless...Jerome is still alive, and it will stay that way if you give me one piece of information."

I didn't reply, instead opting to glare at the woman.

"Don't look at me like that. I want to know where the base for the cult of Avatar is. If you tell me that I'll let you go, no one will ever have to know." The sweetness in the woman's voice contrasted the situation I was in.

"..." Once again, I remained silent. I wasn't even going to dignify her statement with a response.

"Fine then brat, I'll just beat you until you want to talk!" I noticed mist starting to wrap around the woman's limbs; in an instant, I lifted my fingers, sending blades of wind towards her direction.

Even without any training or practice, I could do something as simple as that.

"W-wait that can't be ri-" The ghost woman couldn't even finish her statement as her shoulders were cut. She let out a sharp cry as she held her body, prompting me to dash towards her.

"If I take her out then Jerome and I should return to the normal world!" It was a simple train of thought.

"Curse you, get away!" The ghostly woman sent more mist towards me, but I instantly blew it away. It only took me a matter of seconds to close the gap and wrap my fingers around her neck.

"Send us back now..." I squeezed the woman's neck. I was perfectly prepared to rip it out if necessary.

The woman's eyes quickly glanced at my wolf-like ears and tail. "Bastard, you aren't a human, you're a demon! You're using Curse Power!"

I didn't know what she was talking about, and I didn't care. "If you are not sending us back then I'll kill you..." I started to apply pressure; that was until something strange happened. All weight in my arms vanished.

"Don't underestimate me!" The woman snapped as my hand went straight through her neck. All detail in my fingers vanished as my entire arm turned into a strange outline.

"I can send objects back to the real world, and I just sent our limbs back!" The woman cackled as she kicked me in the stomach.

I felt back sliding against the ground. I tried to stop myself, but my arms phased through the floor. It was strange, it wasn't like my arms were cut off, I could still feel them, but they could no longer interact with the world I was in.

Regardless of the reason, I didn't have my arms anymore, which was going to make fighting a lot harder.

"Now, what am I going to do?" I asked myself as the ghostly woman made her way towards me. I thought of anything that could help me out of this situation. Then I remembered what my enemy had told me.

My arms were sent back to the real world, meaning that an SOS was possible.

* * *

"W-what the hell is that!" Angry Briar shouted as she looked at a pair of disembodied arms floating about. She decided she would be the one to go looking for Thomas after he took a while to come back, but now she was starting to regret her decision.

"They're just flailing about, like weird squids!" Angry Briar gritted her teeth. "Blegh, maybe lovesick Briar should have handled this!"

The white-haired woman slowly inched her way closer to the floating arms before they started to float away.

"Are they leading me somewhere?" Angry Briar frowned as she followed Thomas' arms towards a strange puddle.

"What's going on here?"

* * *

I was knocked back again, my face sliding against the ground. Even if the world was fake, the pain I experienced inside was real enough.

"This is pointless..." The woman hissed. "I should just kill you and Jerome and torture that Briar woman. I only need one of you alive after all," the green-haired woman brushed her hair to the side, preparing to attack me again. Just when she did, we both noticed Briar kneeling on the ground.

"Tsk..." I bit my bottom lip causing the woman to grin.

"Well, aren't I lucky. The last one is here. Now I have to drag Briar through, and I win!" The green-haired woman walked up to the image of Briar before grabbing her arm, with a straightforward yank she brought Briar into her world.

Briar rolled against the ground, causing my heart to stop. I was placing a lot on a gamble I didn't know would work, hell I had to expect Briar to understand what was happening.

"Where the hell am I!" Briar shouted in a surprisingly shrill voice. It was at that moment I realize that it was Angry Briar that made it through. Which given the situation could have been great or disastrous.

"Briar! Tell me where yo-" The a chance to finish her statement as Angry Briar grabbed ahold of her.

"Don't know what's going on here...but I'm leaving right now!" The irritated Briar was then yanked out of the dream town, taking the strange ghost woman with her.

I took a deep breath, "I guess my hunch paid off..." I frowned. I figured if Briar had to recall her clones, then it wouldn't matter what world they were in. They would go straight back to her.

I just used that fact to drag the ghost woman out of her world and back into the real one.

"I guess I'll let Briar take care of it considering I'm disarmed at the moment..."

* * *

"Shit!" The white-dressed woman cursed as she slid against the ground. She looked up at the sky. The otherworldly darkness had vanished, revealing the regular blue sky.

"What, you looked a bit shocked..." A voice echoed through the deserted town forcing Buée to face her enemy.

Briar was standing before her. Her hands raised, preparing for combat. "I would say hurry up and release Scruffy and Wolfy, but I doubt you'd do that even if I asked."

"Tsk, even if I'm out of my world, I'm still a demon. You best not underestimate m-" In an instant, a heel dug itself into Buée throwing her back.

Briar sighed, lowering her foot. "I don't have time for this. I want to kill you as quickly as possible if you don't mind."

"Damned human!" Fog escaped Buée hands instantly wrapping itself around Briar. "Forget getting the information. I'll just kill you all!"

Briar didn't say a word; instead, her body split into two, allowing her to escape the makeshift lock. The two Briar's then opened their palms, sending a sharp shockwave towards Buée the impact of which sent the ghostly woman flying backward.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me the only thing your ability is good for is defeating weak humans without magic?" The two Briar's made their way towards Buée, forcing the demon to bite her bottom lip.

"Damn it all. I'll show you my resolve! I won't disappoint Lady Lenora!" Mist started to build on Buée's arm, creating a sharp blade, but instead of aiming at her oncoming enemy, she turned the weapon on herself.

It was a clean cut, straight through her stomach. Her once white dressed slowly being dyed red, along with the ground beneath her. "P-perfect, I'll escape back to my world using my blood!"

Briar's eyes widened as she and her clone attempted to close the distance. "If she escapes back to her world again, I won't be able to drag her out!"

"This is my limit, Briar! I'm heading back to my wo-" Once again Buée was cut off, but this time it was by a dropkick. The ghostly woman was launched out of the pool of blood she was forming and into a nearby tree.

"Pfft, let's see you try and make a puddle in a tree!" One of the Briar's started giggling.

"S-she knew she wouldn't have reached me by foot, so she split herself up again and used that to close the distance..." Buée coughed. "Damn it. I'm losing concentration my world is going to fade at this rate..."

* * *

"Huh?" I looked at my body as a thick mist covered my vision. At first, I thought it was another attack, but after about a minute, I returned to the real world.

"Looks like all my limbs are still intact." I looked at my arms, glancing to the side. I noticed Jerome lying on the ground, a bit roughed up, but still alive.

I stood up, noticing Briar, or rather three Briar's standing in front of a tree. Hanging off of the branches was the mysterious ghost-like woman half conscious.

Without even thinking, I ran up to Briar as her clones slowly returned to her.

"You actually managed to do it..." I let out a sigh of relief.

Briar pouted, "what's with that phrasing? Of course, I did it. It wasn't like I was going to let you and Scruffy die."

It seemed that Briar was someone I could rely on. "I guess the only thing left to do is figure out her fate," I said, my attention being drawn back to the ghostly woman.

"I-I won't forget this!" The ghostly woman's body started to turn into fog. I was prepared to attack before stopping myself.

What exactly were we going to do if we caught her? She would probably escape considering what her magic was. It also meant taking her back to the base was out of the question, especially since it seemed finding the location was her main objective.

"I won't let you get away!" Briar snapped, sending a shockwave of magic towards the tree. The moment it touched the bark, the wood exploded splintering off in every direction. Unfortunately, the ghostly woman was long gone.

"How could she keep moving with a wound like that?" Briar bit her thumb. "She ran herself through with her magic, but she barely seemed to have been affected."

"When I was still in her world, she mentioned something about being a demon. Maybe that's the reason why she could stab herself without dying," at least that was the best explanation I could come up with.

"Regardless, we should head back..." Briar added. "It's not safe here, and we need to report what happened to the others." Briar then proceeded to walk towards Jerome, leaving me with my thoughts.

"I thought this was supposed to be an easy mission..."

 **Author note**

 **Things that were cut this chapter.**

 **Originally this chapter was supposed to have an opening segment with Briar waking Thomas up and them being briefed. I decided to remove it since it ruined the pacing a bit, and all the information could be put while they were walking through town.**

 **An extended scene with Jerome fighting Buée. Once again cut due to pacing.**

 **Buée defeat was supposed to be different, and end in her death. She was supposed to have started phasing different parts of her body back into her ghost-like world, only for them to be attacked by Jerome and Thomas.**

 **Though I cut that since I felt the fight was already a bit too confusing with a ton of different viewpoints and worlds.**

 **As I said, this story will be far faster paced than the previous version, mostly because I have more of a handle of what I'm going to do.**

 **Buée design was supposed to be a bit different, but I felt like it ended up being a bit too similar to another character, so I changed it. Still don't know how to feel about the green-hair I picked.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Around the Base.**

"Hey Thomas, wake up!" A loud voice came from the other side of my door, forcing me to groan. I pressed my fingers against the wooden floorboards crawling from underneath my mattress frame.

I didn't know why I enjoyed sleeping under the bed and no on top of it. It wasn't something I did back on earth, so the fact I did it on Earthland was sort of strange to me.

"Is that you, Mary?" I asked before I stood up.

"Yep, was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat?" I could hear Mary giggle on the other side. I suppose it was nice to know that despite being an evil cult, they seemed to be nice enough.

I dusted my clothing off before opening the door. Standing before me was Mary, her bright star-like eyes giving me a familiar unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. Despite that, I couldn't deny her expression was somewhat cute.

"Going into town is pretty annoying, and we only have two cars..." I pointed out.

Mary looked at me like she was looking at a confused child. "Ah, you do realize that we have a food area in the base, right?" Mary tilted her head, causing me to freeze in place.

I felt my cheeks turning a bit red. I had only been there for four days, and I never really bothered to explore the rest of the building. I had always figured that one of the other members would give me a tour sooner or later.

"Pfft, you didn't know?" Mary laughter forced me to slump my shoulders. "Come on. You got to take a bit more intuitive than that!"

I couldn't disagree with her words. "I guess you'll show me the way, right?"

"Of course, as the senior, it's my job to show the junior member around the building!" Mary wagged her finger as she led me out of my room and into the hallway proper.

I looked around the dimly lit windows, even though it was early morning, the trees made it hard for any light to get into the building. A perfect hiding spot for a secret cult, but didn't do much for the gloomy atmosphere.

"Oh, by the way, Briar wanted me to give you this." Mary opened the small satchel around her hip before handing me a small orb. "It's a special communication Lacrima, all the mages in Avatar have one."

I stared at it for a second before grabbing it. "Thanks, I guess that means I'll be able to call you late at night, "I joked, causing Mary to smile.

"I probably wouldn't answer since I need my beauty sleep, but Briar or Jerome might." She pointed out before continuing. "Speaking of those two, they had only good things to say about you after your first mission."

That was a relief, I didn't think I made that good of an impression, but if Jerome and Briar were happy with it, I had no reason to question anything.

"I guess they trust me?" I asked, causing Mary to shrug.

"Don't know considering you're working with me tomorrow I'm going to find out for myself soon enough." The swell of excitement in Mary's voice was both endearing and somewhat scary.

I was never fond of having expectations placed on me. I always figured I worked best as the number two man than the lead, at least that is what my relationship was like with Lass and Lenora.

Though I had a feeling, I probably would have to do a lot more thinking for myself now that I was alone on Earthland. I had no intention of just blindly following a cult that didn't know what Zeref wanted.

Though it does make me wonder, did anyone talk to Zeref? From what I remembered unless he were a sort of secret emperor you'd think at least one of the dark guilds obsessed with him would have found out he had an entire country.

"Here is the lunchroom!" Mary cheered snapping me out of my daze. It was of modest size, leading me to believe that only the mages were allowed to eat there.

"Huh, you guys even have a fridge..." I said as I walked up to the black rectangular box. On the top seemed to be a large lacrima, which I assumed was used to power the device.

"Of course, we have a fridge! We need to eat..." Mary pouted.

Thinking about it, the statement was rather stupid. It was just that the series rarely ever focused on the daily lives of anyone besides Fairy Tail. Truthfully I just assumed most dark mages were fed from their inflated egos.

"What do we even have to eat?" I asked, opening up the fridge. There was undoubtedly food in there, but I had no idea what I was looking at. There were no recognizable brands, and from what I could gather a lot of the food needed to be prepared in some way.

"Let's see what's in here..." Mary bumped me to the side before searching through the fridge herself. She then pulled out what amounted to a few cakes and chips.

"Are you sure you should be eating that this early?" I didn't want to be that guy, but I couldn't imagine something like that being healthy for her.

"Come on, something sweet for someone like me is perfect!" Mary chuckled, placing her food on the table. I, on the other hand, just opted to take out what I assumed was a chunk of pre-cooked meat.

"Do we have an oven or something?" I was tempted to say microwave, but I knew for a fact that Earthland probably didn't have something like that.

Mary casually pointed to the corner of the room where a red orb was hanging over what seemed to be metal bars. Despite all the similarities, it was kind of tough getting used to the slight differences in technology.

"So, what kind of magic do you use Mary?" I asked, trying my best to attempt to cook with the strange device presented before me. I already had a pretty good idea since I read the chapters where she was featured in

"Oh? It's known as Virus..." Mary said, taking a bite of her cake. "I can infect those with a lower magical power with a specific range when I do I can cause them pain...or even affect their stomachs and cause them irritable bowels." Mary giggled at the last part. It seemed she was a bit of a sadist.

"Virus huh..." I lifted my finger using my wind to pick up the meat that was cooking. "I wonder if it's possible to use it differently?"

There were plenty of different types of viruses in the world, at least on earth. It seemed that just being able to attack someone's body was a bit too limiting, considering its not just poison.

"Hm, like how?" Mary asked, leaning her arms on the table. I was taken aback by her willingness to listen to my thoughts on her magic.

"Y-you actually want to hear my thoughts?"

"Sure, you are older than me. No need not to take a little advice." Mary lifted her finger. I didn't know if she was humoring me or not. Either way, if she was going to listen, I might as well talk.

"Well, back at home, there is this nasty disease that causes cells to grow unnaturally fast, often leading to death," I said thinking of the disease known as cancer.

Mary just chuckled. "Isn't that a roundabout way of killing someone? If I can infect someone with Virus and damage parts of the body, why would I want to cause cells to grow if it will lead to the same result?"

"It's not about damaging someone. It's about healing actually," I corrected Mary. "If you could regrow specific cells, you could heal wounds, even regrow limbs." Of course, that was just my assumption, while I was a medical student, I was far from an expert in the field.

Mary placed her finger against her lips before smiling. "You're pretty smart for a new guy, I doubt it will work, but I'll practice it when I get the free time." Mary shot up, finishing the last of her cakes.

"Huh? Leaving already?" I asked.

"Don't tell me you fallen for my charms already!" Mary winked. "We'll get to spend plenty of time together tomorrow." With those words, Mary left the room, leaving me to finish my meal.

It was probably too much to ask for her to stay until I finished. Plus she probably had important things to do, considering she was one of the few mages in the cult.

"Well, she did show me the eating area, so I can't complain too much," I said to myself, finally finishing my meal. Of course, once I did, I realized I didn't have much to do.

"Maybe I should just head back to my room," I sighed, exiting the lunchroom and heading back down the hall though I didn't make it far before seeing a familiar face walking in the opposite direction of me.

"Ah, Jerome, you're up too?" I asked the blond swordsmen causing him to give me a somewhat puzzled look.

"It's nearly noon, why wouldn't I be up?"

The moment he said that I winced. Had I slept that long? "I-I see, I guess I lost track of time!" I let out a laugh causing Jerome's eyes to narrow.

"I don't care what your sleep schedule is like, as long as you are on time for missions you can waste as many hours throughout the day as you'd like."

His statement was harsh but fair. Though him mentioning missions caused me to remember something important.

"Hey, have you recovered?" I asked. I knew our encounter with the Buée probably left him with a few more bruises than he'd like to admit.

"I am fine. If you have time to worry about me, then you have time to do anything else that is more productive."

I shoved my hands into my pockets. It seemed that my attempt to show concern probably just damaged Jerome's pride more than anything else. Still, since Jerome was in front of me, I might as well ask him something.

"By the by, why did you join Avatar anyway. Someone like you seems to be a better fit for a knight or a royal guard?" I tried to remain as stoic as possible. I didn't want him to think my question was a sort of insult.

Jerome's orange eyes scanned me before letting out a groan. "Listen, that's not important, besides I doubt most of the members here would want to tell you why they joined."

"That's not true. Mary was pretty upfront about it," I said, deciding to push my luck a bit further.

"..Just drop it," Jerome quickly turned away from me before saying one last thing. "Also, I suggest you be careful around Mary. She may seem cute, but she actually has a pretty nasty temper."

I wanted to laugh, a lot of things came to mind when I thought of Mary, but anger was not one of them. Still, I decided to make a mental note of Jerome's warning.

"...I wonder if Briar or D-6 is around?" I continued to make my way through the halls. I ultimately decided to avoid most of the lower ranking members, not because I thought I was better than them, but rather due to the fact it was still kind of awkward.

I attacked a bunch of them, and as their so-called superior, I had no idea how I was supposed to interact with them. Hell, I had a hunch that some of them hated my guts due to me being able to use magic.

How does one that is in a cult even make small talk?

"Here you are, wandering around like a lost puppy..." My ears twitched as I heard Briar's voice.

I turned around to see the white-haired woman making her way towards me. I didn't know if it was luck or fate that I was meeting everyone back to back, either that or our base was just that small.

"Hey, Briar..." I lifted my hand, which prompted Briar to sigh.

"What's with that reaction? Did scruffy say something to you?" Briar's concern was appreciated, but I had to correct her assumption quickly.

"N-no, just thinking about some stuff," I answered truthfully, I wanted to ask Briar the same question that I asked Jerome, but decided against it. It would have been pretty tactless.

Briar pressed her finger to her lips. "If you're bored we do have a small study filled with books that you can read."

I thought about her words for a moment. While I knew the ins and outs of the Fairy Tail world through reading the series and the wiki, I probably didn't know a lot of the smaller details that one would gather living in a place.

It was the difference between doing a report on a country and living there, and while reading wasn't my favorite thing to do, it wasn't like there was anything else to keep me occupied.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," I said. "I guess I should also take the time out to thank you. I didn't expect someone to be so trusting."

Briar raised her brow before just chuckling. "I said it before. It would be counter-intuitive for us to turn away new members. You're a mage, and we need mages, that alone makes you stand head and shoulders above most people who come crawling to us. Plus you've shown you can be trusted."

Once again, I was relieved with her comment. "I guess that Arlock guy still isn't here yet, huh?" I decided to steer the conversation in another direction.

"The priest is still doing something," Briar groaned. "Even if he can directly translate Zeref's word, there is something about him that feels...off."

I crossed my arm, Arlock does try to sacrifice everyone to summon Zeref, a plan that I was positive wouldn't have worked even in the canon events of the story. Of course, that was nearly eight years off, and it wasn't something I needed to worry about at the moment.

"I'm sure that if he's your ally, it will all work out," I felt stupid telling her that, considering I knew for a fact everything wasn't going to work out.

Though it seemed my words struck a chord with Briar as she gave me one of the strangest looks I ever received from another human being.

"I should tell you. I'm the type of person who can either love with all her heart or hates with every fiber of my being," Briar crossed her arms, causing my heart to skip a beat.

"W-what's with that statement?" I wondered if I said anything to piss her off.

"Nothing, I just want to put in perspective what type of person I am." Briar ran her fingers through the hair before finally pointing down the hall. "The study is further down the hall like I said there isn't a ton of books for you to read, but it's there if you want to pass the time."

With that, Briar started to head the direction I just came from.

"Oh, where are you going?" I asked, even though it wasn't any of my business.

"I'm going to talk to D-6."

"Oh, that guy..." An image of the tall, muscular figure flashed in my head. "By the way, is D-6 his real name?"Once again, it felt like I was prying, but it still seemed jarring that someone would be named a letter and number.

"Of course not," Briar blunt reply forced me to slump my shoulders.

"Do you know his real name?"

"Of course not,"

"Eh, don' just repeat the same statement!" I said, causing Briar to smile.

"If you're that interested, you need to ask him yourself," Briar said that as if presenting a challenge to me.

I ran my fingers through my hair, avoiding the two large dog ears that were twitching on the top of my head. "I can't do that. I was hoping to avoid that by asking you..."

"Oh~" Briar's lips curled. "If you want to know more about your ally's then just directly asking them should be easy right? The worst thing he can do is say no."

Briar's response was reasonable, even more so since I just said one should trust their allies. At the very least I probably shouldn't be sneaking behind other member's backs asking for information about them.

"I get it. I'll talk to him myself when I get the chance." I conceded.

"Good, also be careful with Venom Tongue tomorrow, if you give that girl an inch she'll take a mile," Briar said, making this the second warning that I got for Mary.

"Everyone's acting like she's going to drain me dry or something," I said, I honestly couldn't imagine such a cute girl being much of a problem.

"She might, especially a guy like you..."

I frowned, my wolf-like ears twitching once again. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Briar sly avoided acknowledging the insult. "Just try not to spoil her too much," with that Briar finally left me.

If I wasn't nervous about going on a mission with Mary before I certainly was now, the only thing I could do was wait to see what kind of job we would have to do.

 **Author note.**

 **A cool down chapter, I promise there won't be a lot of these. I just felt weird jumping straight into a chapter with Thomas and Mary without at least a little bit of set up. Plus it gives time for the characters to interact a bit more.**

 **I also gave hints on what type of Magic Mary's virus may turn into in the future.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Mr. Blue Sky**

"Are you done yet?" I asked, leaning my body against a nearby wall. I had never been much of a shopper, and me hanging around with Mary had told me why.

The teenage girl had her hands full with as many outfits and accessories she could fit between her fingers and arms. There were so many that her body started to sway simply by carrying them.

"We already wasted time getting food for everyone; taking some time to do some personal shopping for me is only fair!" Mary fired back.

I groaned, our job was to patrol the local area and look for anything suspicious. Something that was only should have taken a few hours, after that we got caught up getting food for everyone, and now we were clothes shopping.

I glanced out the window, taking note of the setting sun. Briar was going to be pissed at us, or at least pissed at Mary for eating so much time.

Mary headed to the exit, not even bothering to talk to the receptionist.

"U-um, miss...you have to pay for those," the man stuttered. Perhaps he was shocked that Mary would be so bold to steal a bunch of things without even bothering to be sneaky about it.

Mary glanced back over to the man, before slowly tilting her head and giving the most innocent of smiles. "No, I don't."

The man just froze before speaking once again. "L-listen if you think I'm just going t-" The man instantly stopped has he doubled over clutching his stomach. A strange growling noise echoing from his body.

"Wow, don't you think you should worry about reaching a bathroom first before trying to stop me?" Mary snorted before she giggled. She then exited the shop as I followed, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Was that necessary?" I asked while Mary loaded the stuff in the back of the magical vehicle. I forgot how crude they could be, at least compared to the cars back on earth.

"Oh come on, just having a bit of fun!" Mary chuckled. "It's not like we were going to pay for it anyway." Mary made a fair point, but I still didn't like giving the guy an upset stomach for his troubles.

"Let's just head back before anyone shows up," we weren't wearing masks after all, and while it probably would take more than stealing some food and clothes to get on the Dark-Mage list, it's something I wanted to avoid.

I hooked the magical device on my arm while Mary jumped into the passenger seat. I then quickly started the vehicle, despite the differences it wasn't too, unlike driving a typical car.

The same couldn't be said about the terrain, however. Due to the town being located on top of the hill, getting back to the base from it was rather...complicated. The road was winding, and at the bottom was a large pool of water the circled the town and hill itself.

"We're pretty far up, huh?" Mary said, looking over the side. It'd be pretty bad if we fell from this height~." Mary gained a mischievous smile causing me to sigh.

"Don't even make jokes like that," I replied. The road was pretty narrow, and they only had the most basic of wooden railings. The trail wasn't made with vehicles in mind, besides maybe a few wagons. "The faster we get back to base, the better."

I probably sounded like a broken record, but I didn't want to be out at night. We were mages, so the average bandit couldn't touch us, but I was more concerned about just getting lost. I still didn't know the area well, and I was the one who was driving.

"Hmm, did it get brighter all of a sudden?" Mary asked, her eye squinting.

I tilted my head. The sun was setting so that shouldn't have been possible. "Maybe I'm just turning oddly?" After all, the path was like a spiral, meaning we'd probably see the sun from a few different angles until we reached the bottom.

I then looked at the sky, noticing the once orange sky had turned to blue once again. "W-what?"

"This is freaky..." Mary said, "even the sun is in the wrong spot!"

Mary pointed to the sky, just like she said the sun was in the wrong spot. It was directly above us, which should have been impossible.

It wasn't noon, far from it. So unless time somehow managed to reverse itself, something was going on, something I didn't like.

I looked at my hands, taking note of the sweat on my palms. There was a noticeable increase in temperature, not a small one either, like 60-90 in an instant.

Mary waved her hand in front of her face trying to cool herself off. "I...don't know what's going on, but we need to get out of here," Mary conflicted tone summed my feelings on the situation perfectly.

I didn't know if I should have been scared or baffled, regardless the temperature continued to rise. Our clothes slowly started to get drenched in sweat as I attempted to look up at the sun above us.

"W-what?"

It somehow got closer, despite us descending the hill the sun seemed to have been following us down. My hands started to shake while my shirt began to stick to my skin. Steam slowly started to rise from the metal and the hood.

"O-ouch," I heard Mary help, the sun was so bright I could barely see. And it felt like our skin was legit beginning to burn. If we stayed there for a minute longer, we'd probably die in the next minute.

The sun was getting closer to us. There was no doubt about it if that was the case...

I made a sharp turn heading straight towards the railing.

"T-Thomas, what are you doing!" Mary screamed as she held her seat.

"If we stay on the route we'll burn to death before we even reach the halfway point of the road. We need to get off this hill right now!"

"T-that doesn't me-" I didn't let Mary finish her statement as I broke the railing forcing us and the magical vehicle into freefall. There was a large pond underneath of us, but I had no idea how deep it was.

Mary screamed as I wrapped my arm around her waist. I then used my magic to lift us out of the vehicle while it continued to fall. It only took a few seconds for it to crash into the water.

Mary clung to me while we floated down, landing into the small pond. The water was shallow enough for us to stand in, which unfortunately meant that our vehicle was totaled.

"Y-you idiot, don't do that sort of thing! How are we going even to get back?" Mary snapped, looking over to the wet wreckage. "Plus all the food and clothing we got is probably ruined!" Mary held back a sob, I, on the other hand, looked towards the sky.

The sun was indeed further away, though I noticed something else strange. I looked back to the horizon, seeing another golden orb slowly sinking. "There are two suns?" I said aloud.

"Two? That's impossible!" Mary said, looking to the sky. "Eh? Why are there two suns!" The pink-haired teenager repeated my statement causing me to sigh.

I doubted Earthland had two suns, something was wrong. I looked into the sky, noticing that the sun above us was getting closer once again.

"My, my, if you two had just stayed on the hill you'd probably have burned to death peacefully."

Both me and Mary turned our attention to the person standing at the edge of the pond. It was a man with sunglasses. He was wearing a bright blue shirt with star patterns covering it, in the center of his chest was a large sun pattern.

My eyes narrowed. "You're an enemy...aren't you!" I snapped, causing the man to hold up a chain with a strange symbol attached to it.

"I am apart of Interminable Guerre if that's what you mean," the man laughed, placing his hand on his hip. "I hate showing up like this. I was hoping to kill you without being seen."

"Wait, you're with Interminable Guerre?" Mary asked, standing up straight. "How did you know we were here?"

The man just scanned us before chuckling. "I want to say it was because I was told, but that would be a lie...it was fate." The man stated, forcing me to raise my brow.

"Fate?"

"I just happened to see you," the man waved his hands. "Perhaps gravity dictated for us to meet."

I took a step forward, having heard enough. "I guess you won't just let us leave, huh?"

The man then pointed to the sun above. "That is my curse. The sun curse, Normally I bring it closer towards my target and let them burn, but since you, two got so close I can't bring it down. I don't want to burn myself after all."

"If that's the case, you're completely defenseless." I pushed wind beneath my foot, causing me to dash towards my target. If the only things the sun could do was heat up or burn, and if he can't pull it any lower, then he shouldn't be able to do anything.

The man lifted his head. "Isn't that a little presumptuous?" The moment he said that the sun above me started to flicker.

"EH? Thomas, look out!" I heard Mary call my name, but by the time I reacted, it was too late. I felt something sharp and hot piercing shoulder. I cringed while a scorched mark appeared on my clothes as well as on the ground in front of me.

"I can also shoot concentrated beams of sunlight directly from my sun." The man raised his fingers.

Even though I wasn't looking directly at the giant yellow orb, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I instinctively moved, dodging the oncoming lasers.

I gritted my teeth moving my arm, despite the pain the man hadn't disabled my limb. I could still fight normal, even if it were painful to do so.

Despite the man's supposed confidence, I was closing the distance between him and me. I lifted my arm, wind wrapping around my arm.

"Tsk, do you think that will be enough to hit Ensoleillé?" The man grinned.

It didn't matter what he said. He was well within my range. I leaned my arm back, preparing to cut him with a sharp blade of wind before something strange happened.

"Gah!" Almost like someone had taken a camera and flashed it right in my face, I was blinded.

"Thomas, he's right in front of you!" Mary shouted the next thing I felt was a swift kick to my stomach. I fell back into the pond, my vision only now returning to me.

It didn't take a genius to realize what had happened. Ensoleillé must have increased the sunlight to the point where I would be blinded. It would also explain why he was wearing sunglasses.

"It's pointless. I'll completely cut off your vision before I make swiss cheese out of you!" The flashily dressed man pointed to his sun once again.

Dodging the lasers while blinded wasn't going to be a problem. It wasn't like I was using my eyes to avoid them before anyway, but there was no way in hell I would be able to also keep track of my enemy at the same time.

At least that is what I assumed. I closed my eyes, allowing my nose to twitch, one of the many benefits of my animal like features was my greater sense of smell.

"Eh? Is the sun too bright for you that you just chose to close your eyes instead? Whatever it will make things a lot easier for me!"

Once again, more beams of light fired from the orb above. I dodged them to the best of my abilities while I used Ensoleillé's scent to track him.

Even if I wasn't able to make out any details, I could still get a vague idea of where my enemy was and how I would deal with him.

"Damn, how are you tracking me!" The man snapped. I heard him taking a few steps back, telling me he was close by. Without even thinking about it, I lifted my foot, preparing to kick him in the head.

I let my foot fly through the air, the fact I didn't get any feedback told me I completely whiffed my attack.

"Ha, you idio-" Ensoleillé was prepared to mock me, but I cut him off...or instead, my wind did. I extended my wind from my leg, giving myself far more range than intended.

I heard a satisfying cutting sound followed by something wet falling on my leg. The light instantly dimmed down as I heard my enemy cry out.

"Bastard, Bastard! You cut me in my throat!" He managed to choke those words out, allowing my eyes to wander to him. Just like he said, I had cut him from the collar bone up the side of his neck to his cheek. It wasn't a little cut either if it had been even a little bit deeper. I'd probably have severed his artery.

The man held his neck, eye twitching. The sunglasses he once wore had fallen off, revealing his blood red eyes.

"That's right newbie, show off to your senior!" I heard Mary call from the pond.

"You...look pretty pissed off," I said blankly. "We can end this here, and both walk away, though I have a feeling no one would be pleased with that outcome."

The man gripped his wound, his shoulders twitching. "Bastard! After Lady Lenora brought me up from nothing, I'm not about to fail her now!"

My wolf ears twitched at the mention of the name Lenora. There were plenty of Lenora's in the world, so I doubted he meant the same one I was looking for, there were probably plenty of Lenora's on earthland.

I lowered my stance, preparing for another onslaught.

"I'm the brightest star in the sky!" Ensoleillé shouted, causing another beam of sunlight to fly through the air, but instead of being aimed at Mary or me, it pierced straight through Ensoleillé.

"W-what the hell are you doing?!" I snapped, despite the brain injury, the man was still standing.

"I...just destroyed the part of the brain that processes pain. After all, I'm about to burn myself to death to kill the two of you, so it's only natural!"

I grew pale. Ensoleillé couldn't have been planning on doing what I think he was doing. I looked back up at the sun, it was getting closer, like a flaming meteor about to crash into the water beneath it.

"That's right. This sun is going to crash on top of the three of us!" Ensoleillé let out a chilling laugh. "Normally magic and curses deactivate if the user loses consciousness, I usually shouldn't be able to burn myself alive, but now that I can no longer process pain, it should be easy."

There was no way around it. I was going to have to kill him as soon as possible. I motioned myself to do just that until I heard a shrill cry of pain. I quickly turned my head only to notice the water in the pond was starting to boil.

In the middle of the water was Mary struggling to stand up.

Just like that, I was put in a tight spot. If I went to rescue Mary, there was no way I'd be able to kill Ensoleillé in time, but if I left her in the water, the amount of damage she would take.

"I guess I got to try something a bit different!" I wiped my arms about before putting them in the water.

"What are you doing?" Ensoleillé raised his brow, allowing me to take a deep breath.

With a small shout, I created a small tornado ejecting all the water from the pond into the air. The moment I did the entire area was covered in a thick mist due to the water evaporating in the air.

Not only did it prevent Mary from being boiled alive, but it also cooled off the surrounding area and blinded Ensoleillé.

Of course, it wasn't going to last for long, the moment the mist cleared everyone would be dead. So before that happened, I needed to finish my enemy.

I stuck my nose in the air, sniffing the area. I was the one that had the sight advantage now. I forced wind to wrap around my arm creeping ever closer to my enemy.

"Da-damn it, where are yo-" Those were Ensoleillé last words as I pierced his body with my hand. Then, like a jet taking off, I flung him back, into a nearby stone.

The man coughed up blood while he slid to the ground, a large hole where his abdomen should have been told me the attack had hit its mark.

The temperature slowly started to return to normal, telling me the sun was slowly beginning to fade away. I looked over to my enemy, despite the hole in his body he was still clinging to life.

"I guess...this is it for you," I said kneeling next to the man. I didn't particularly feel pity for him, but it wasn't like I was excited to see someone die.

"Looks like it..." His casual tone told me he half-expected this sort of outcome. "This was probably dictated by fate as well..."

Without saying another word, the man known as Ensoleillé died. I took a deep breath before my attention went back to Mary. The teenage girl was lying in the middle of the now empty pond.

"H-hey, Mary, are you alright!" My heart sank. I could only imagine the number of burns that were on her legs and feet. I ran to the empty crater looking down at the pink-haired girl.

Her eyes were shut tightly, a bit too tightly. It was a common trick that kids used when their parents would sneak into their room while they were asleep.

Still, if she was pretending to be knocked out, I should at least tease her a bit. I grabbed her leg slowly pulling off her stockings.

"W-what are you doing!" Mary instantly snapped awake, causing me to laugh.

"I was checking for burns. You should have some if you were in the water," a part of me was tempted to continue to strip Mary's legs but decided against it.

"I-I'm fine..." Mary replied, her cheeks turning red. "I healed myself when you finished that guy off..."

My ears perked the moment she said she healed herself. "Huh, you can do that?"

Mary stood up before placing her fingers on the hole that was in my shoulder. In a matter of seconds, the skin that was burned started to stitch itself back together, almost like something was growing in my wound.

"I listened to what you said and tried it out. I don't know how far my virus can recreate things, but if it's just a hole in the body or burned skin I can heal it..."

I was a bit shocked that Mary took my advice, partly because I didn't even know it would work. Still, I couldn't help but be a bit happy that I was able to help Mary advance her magic.

"I guess we're walking home, huh?" I asked, taking a look at the burnt and ruined remains of our Magical vehicle. I knew everyone would understand once they realized we were attacked, but it still didn't feel right to come back to the base at a deficit.

"We, you're going to carry me!" Mary pouted before jumping onto my back like a squirrel. "Think of it as punishment for driving off the cliff earlier!"

I wanted to make a counterpointed but decided against it. If the only thing Mary was going to do was make me carry her home, then I needed to count my blessings.

"Really? I view it as karma for all those things you stole," I stated.

Mary just stuck out her tongue. "Don't tell me you believe in that nonsense. Soon you're going to sound like that priest."

I'd often forget that compared to the other members of Avatar, Mary didn't seem all too dedicated to the cause.

"Speaking of that, isn't he supposed to be returning soon?" I asked, making my way onto the nearby trail.

"Yeah, we're going to have to introduce you to him..." Mary groaned. "Hopefully he won't freak you out too much."

"I hope so too..."

 **Author note.**

 **Another chapter finished.**

 **The fight with Ensoleillé was supposed to be a bit longer. But I decided to shorten it since I felt I covered all the set-pieces I wanted to do with the curse. Ensoleillé name also means sunny in french.**

 **Mary ended up just being around during the fight since I didn't know how to fit her black-magic in. I guess it was also kind of awkward how I handled her healing part of her virus too.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **The Priest Alok.**

I laid my head against the wooden floor, my dog like ears pressing against the ground. Perhaps it was due to the lack of things to do around the base, but I had this unshakable boredom continually trying to overtake me.

"What time is it?" I groaned, rolling around on the floor. I had a feeling it was past noon. I knew it was terrible to be lazy, but unless I got another mission, there wasn't a need to waste energy.

After what seemed like an eternity of me lying on the floor, I heard a knock at the door. My dog like ears twitched, causing me to shoot up from the wooden ground.

I had a feeling it was either Mary or Briar. I quickly walked to the door only for it to be flung open. It wasn't either of the two women. Instead, it was D-6 in his usual inhuman armor.

I stared at him, and I think he stared back. At least that is what I assumed he did. My lips pursed while I wondered what exactly I would say to him.

"Alok is back," D-6 statement was blunt. So blunt that my ear twitched while he said it.

"Eh?"

"He wants to speak to you." Without saying another word, he walked away, as if he expected me to follow him. I grumbled a bit, at the very least he could have told me the time.

I followed the armored man through the hallway. For some reason, the usual trip through the halls felt far more tension-filled. Like someone had decided to drag me to my own funeral.

It's not like I had anything against priests. My family wasn't particularly religious, but I always viewed the holy men as people doing their job though this particular meeting made my intestine knot up.

"He's in the meeting hall." D-6 stopped right in front of the meeting hall, signaling to me he had no intention of going in with me.

I attempted to crack a smile. "Ah, I guess Briar or Jerome isn't in there either."

No response, something I should have expected. I shifted my gaze to the door. I wanted to have more time to prepare. At the very least, I wanted to have been able to comb my hair.

I walked into the room to see a masked face at the end of the long table. I awkwardly took a seat across from Alok. While I wished to avoid eye contact with him, I didn't know where I could look.

"It's nice to see another worshiper of the great Zeref." He broke the silence with the most unsettling line imaginable.

"Y-yeah..." I swallowed harshly. There was no getting around it. This guy was giving me the creeps.

"I've heard from Jerome and Briar that you excelled at the missions you were given. Something that does not often happen with the recruits we receive."

I accepted the compliment without much complaint. "If you don't mind me asking, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Alok remained silent, his iron mask not giving any hints on what he was thinking or his expression. "I merely wanted to know if you knew something about the demon Lullaby."

My eyes widened, how much was known about Lullaby? More importantly, when exactly did I end up? "D-don't know much, why do you ask?"

The man instantly shot up like some twisted statue. He then moved over to me, which prompted me to shift in my seat ever so slightly. It took all of me not to get up and leave.

Even though I couldn't see his eyes, I felt his gaze wander upon my ears. "Please, forget, I asked." He then walked back down to the other end of the table. "As long as you are loyal to Zeref, your personal life means very little to me."

Despite how dismissive it sounded, I was a bit relieved. I couldn't imagine a more annoying situation than Alok trying to pry into where I came from, even more so given the circumstances.

"Is that everything?" I let out a sigh of relief while the priest waved his hand dismissively.

"That is all. I merely wanted to see your face."

It made sense. If you hired someone, you'd at least what to see what they looked like, along with their demeanor. Regardless, I had been permitted to leave, and I wasn't going to waste that chance.

I shot up from my seat and exited the room, peeking over my shoulder to make sure that Alok wasn't going to stab me in the back. Once I was outside the meeting room, I noticed that D-6 was missing.

"So, you finally met the priest." A familiar voice caused me to turn my head. Standing before me was Briar, an almost sadistic smile creeping across her face.

My hands moved to the back of my head. I could tell the dark mage was enjoying the look on my face. "He's pretty creepy, do you know anything about him?"

Briar's brow rose before she chuckled. "Didn't I say this before Wolfy? If you want to know more about the members, you're going to have to ask them yourself."

She did tell me that didn't she... "Alok has to be an exception, though, right?"

Briar pressed her finger to her lip. "Well, to be honest, the priest puts me on edge as well. But he did start this whole organization, so it's best not to think too hard about it."

Once again, she had a point. Even if I knew what Alok does later, if it wasn't for him, I probably would be in a far more complicated situation.

"Nevermind then." My lungs sucked in some air before letting it all out in a single sigh.

"If you makes you feel any better, you'll be going on a mission with Scruffy and Iron Mask."

I slumped my shoulders even further. It didn't take me long to realize whom Briar was referring to. "That makes me feel even worse, can't you switch one of them out with Mary or yourself?"

Jerome was fine in my book, but I couldn't imagine going on a mission with him without either Briar or Mary acting as an ice-breaker. That wasn't even getting started with D-6, someone who didn't have a human name.

"Don't worry, even if Scruffy and D-6 seem intimidating, they are big softies on the inside. Just don't get on their bad side, and you'll be fine."

Briar waved her hand before she walked away. She was most likely busy, but that still left me to waste away the rest of my day. I wasn't much into reading at the moment, so the only natural thing for me to head to the break room instead.

Not having any breakfast made me a bit peckish, and with a little luck, I'd be able to talk to someone else.

My feet dragged themselves through the halls until I reached the breakroom. Luckily Mary was sitting down in one of the many seats that littered the area. The moment the black-mage noticed me, she waved, which prompted me to take place next to her.

"Heard you have to go on a mission with Jerome and C-6, sucks to be you..." She snickered while taking another bite of her, no doubt stolen cake.

"Yeah, yeah..." I groaned. "I've also met Alok." I had a feeling that Mary already knew that.

Mary's cheerful expression turned into a frowned as she leaned back in her chair. "Hope he doesn't scare you off, sometimes he takes that priest thing way too seriously."

I pressed my fist against my cheek. The series never went too into Alok, or really any of the members of Avatar. Briar did state that if I wanted to know something, I should flat out ask them.

"Mary, do you have any family?" Not only did it seem random, but I realized how stupid that statement was. Of course, she had a family. She didn't just pop into existence.

The star-eyed girl paused for a moment and gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I do. They are part of the reason why I'm here."

Did her family want her to join a cult or something? It seemed like a strange thing a mother or father would put their daughter up to. Then again, this was Earthland, so a lot of weird shit could happen. "Is it a family tradition or something?"

"Not really, I'm looking for my older sister." Mary hesitated, if only for a split second. I suppose that was as good of a reason as any to join a cult, well not really, but at least she had a goal.

"I guess if she could be found by normal means, you wouldn't be here." My wolf-like ears twitched before I crossed my arms. "How did the two of you get separated?"

Mary shifted in her seat, her growing discomfort with the conversation becoming more and more apparent. "Enough about me, what about you, mystery boy?" Mary changed the topic to me as she leaned on the table. "A guy floating down the river with wolf ears is pretty bizarre."

I couldn't disagree with her statement though I decided to refocus the conversation on family. "Well, I have parents along with a sister."

"You got to tell me more than that!" Mary pressed, slammed her hand on the table. Somehow she had turned into the one that was asking questions.

"Eh, not much else to say. They are people that I know, and I happen to be related to by blood, I'm the outsider when it comes to that."

Mary tilted her head. "Do they like your sister more or something?"

"Sure, but that's due to my actions." The more I thought about it, the harder it was to describe. I didn't hate my family. No traumatic event occurred where they started to despise me, just pure apathy.

Mary's lips twisted into a pout. "I don't get it."

It seemed that I would need to make it as simple as possible. "I guess I wouldn't care if I never saw my family again." The words were harsh, but that was part of the reason why I wasn't in much of a rush to get back to earth.

Well, at least not until I confirmed that the two people I did care about wasn't on earthland with me.

"Isn't that weird?" Mary chimed in again, taking another bite out of her cake. "It seemed like you lived with them most of your life, but you are talking about them like they are your coworkers."

"Sorry..." I lifted both of my hands. "They aren't that important to me. I'm sure they feel the same way, it's just the kind of relationship we have."

I wasn't going to pretend it was normal, but I didn't see it as harmful either. Most of the time, it felt like the three of them were a family, and I was that weird guy that happened to stay in the same house.

"Is there anyone you are close to?"

The moment she said that the wolf ears, on the top of my head, perked up, something that Mary noticed. "No way, that's so cute~."

"H-hey, don't say it like that." I covered the top of my head with my hands. "And to answer your question, I do have friends that I'm looking for."

"Then tell me what are they like?"

Even though it was such a simple question, it felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. How exactly could I describe those Lenora and Lass? Starting from how I met them would be too much unnecessary, but just describing their personality traits would have been awkward.

"Well, Lass is a tech wiz. She can fix most machines and can even craft homemade bombs. I think she wants to be a sort of weapon specialist or military scientist."

I decided to leave out the part where Lass would strap some of her bombs onto stray animals and detonate them. I wanted to make a good first impression for her, so opting-out the more...twisted parts of her personality was necessary.

In fact, I was pretty sure the only reason she wanted to become a military scientist was so she could make new types of weapons.

"She sounds like a huge nerd." Mary stuck out her tongue. "What about the other one?"

"Ah..." Lenora was next, and my feelings about her were a bit more complicated. "The next one is Lenora, and she's...perfect."

"Perfect?" Mary sat her spoon down, seemingly prepared to listen to more of my ramblings.

"I'm saying she's a perfect human being. She gets perfect scores on all her test, she's beautiful and probably the most charismatic person I've ever met. She is a person that I genuinely believe that was just born better than others."

I didn't say those words because I looked up to Lenora, I said those words because they were fact. She was my go-to example to disprove the idea that everyone was born equally.

"I-isn't that a bit extreme? I mean, no one is perfect."

My hand ran through my hair. "You say that because you haven't met her yet. Being around her is both oddly calming and crushing at the same time."

Mary's shoulders slumped. "The way you describe her, I don't think I want to meet her." Mary then pushed out her chair and got up. It seemed she had lost interest in our short conversation. "You should probably talk to either Jerome or D-6 about your mission. Those guys can get grumpy if you aren't on the same page."

"Yeah..." I sighed while my eyes wandered to the fridge. "By the way, thanks for talking to me. It was kind of nice to get that sort of thing off my chest."

It wasn't like some deep secret, but I had avoided talking about my home life. Not only that, but I got to learn a little bit about Mary, which was always nice.

Mary merely giggled at my words. "No need to thank me, I got a lot of information I can tease you with later after all."

Before I could ask what she meant by that, the cultist skipped away — leaving me completely alone in the small break room.

"I hope this isn't going to bite me in the ass later." I groaned while I made my way to the lacrima powered fridge. The inside had cakes and various other sweets scattered. There was no doubt about it. Mary was the one that stocked the refrigerator last.

"Damn it. There has to be something meat related in here somewhere..."

"If you are looking for meats and vegetables, they are in the second compartment."

My body froze as I heard a familiar voice. I turned my head to see Jerome standing behind me, his arms folded. "Oh, hey Jerome, didn't see you there!" I forced a smile, but the blond knight merely glared at me.

"If you aren't going to get anything, could you stand aside?"

I quickly shuffled my feet, allowing Jerome to dig through the fridge. Just as he said, the actual food was in its compartment to the side.

"Ah, by the way. Mary told me that I should ask you about our mission tomorrow."

"She did? That's unlike her..." Jerome rubbed his chin as he set the ingredients on the table. "Do you want me to make you something while this is out?"

My mind tried to come up with a decent response. "Don't worry. I can make it myself once you're finished."

Jerome nodded as he took a seat. "We've got word that a group of bandits nearby may have an artifact connected to Zeref. I, you, and D-6 are to infiltrate their camp and take the item for ourselves. Of course, this means eliminating those who get in our way."

That was to be expected. "If they are bandits, that means they probably won't have magic."

Jerome nodded after he finished preparing his meal. "Any other details I'll brief you on during our ride there. There is no need to tell you a bunch of things that you're just going to forget by tomorrow morning."

While a part of me wanted to defend my memory, I couldn't help but agree with him. I'd probably have just forgotten the details by the time he woke me up tomorrow.

"I can live with that," I said as Jerome lifted himself from his seat. His newly created salad on his plate.

"Make sure that you put everything back once you are finished. I rather not have you and Mary go on another grocery run considering what happened to our last vehicle."

It was hard to tell if Jerome was making a joke or if he was serious. Either way, he walked out of the room, leaving me alone once again.

"Bandits...huh?" I rubbed my chin. "Maybe things will go smoothly for once..."

 **Author note**

 **Sorry for the vast gap between updates. I was busy working on other stuff and got stump on how to write this chapter.**


End file.
